Trick and Treat
by Hilary Weston
Summary: Halloween arrives on B5 again. A short scene.


Happy Halloween!

Following my story last year, I have penned another. It is short again, but you don't need loads of words to create tension; I hope. Anyway, read, leave comments, and most of all, enjoy.

Standard disclaimers. I don't own B5 or any of the characters.  
All Hail to the Great Maker.  
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**Trick and Treat**

by

Hilary Weston

Officer Hanif patrolled through Green sector feeling distinctly out of place among the miniature demons, ghouls and aliens.  
Halloween had arrived again and for one evening the station was turned over to the children to freely knock on any door, ambassador or dock worker, in the earth tradition that had been strangely embraced by all the races on Babylon 5. The atmosphere was one of a party but even so, the captain had ordered extra security details to guard against thieves taking advantage of the chaos and to ensure the safety of the children running around unchaperoned.  
Deftly sidestepping a group of three foot high Technomages, Hanif spotted the flapping end of a cape disappearing down a side corridor. He quickened his pace towards the corner. That passage led away from the populated area where most of the trick or treaters were; and worryingly, it also ran into an area where a number of lurkers had recently gone missing.  
The corridor was completely empty.  
"I must be imagining things." Hanif thought, turning away. From far away laughter echoed back towards him.  
"Hello!" he called. Another distant laugh was his only reply.  
He followed the sound. If there were children down there, they could get hopelessly lost and end up in serious trouble.  
Very quickly the lights began to fail and the neat corridor gave way to a maze of boxes, girders and other debris. Hanif wished he had remembered to bring a flashlight on patrol with him. He peered into the shadows, trying to catch a glimpse of a small figure. A scuttling came from behind him.  
"Hello?" He spun around. "This is station security. You shouldn't be here children; it isn't safe. Let me take you back."  
Something brushed past him. A small body swiftly disappeared further into the gloom.  
He turned again and followed the child. He had only taken a few steps when he felt his legs press against a cable stretched across the passage.  
The next second his feet were swept behind him and he fell forwards, his body slamming heavily into the floor.  
"Trick and Treat!"  
Hanif rolled onto his back and looked up to find two children leaning over him.  
"That was a good one," he conceded. "Now you really shouldn't be here."  
"Trick and Treat!" The children repeated with hungry grins.  
"I'm afraid I don't have any treats." Hanif frowned as he noticed the change of wording. "Shouldn't that be Trick _or_ Treat?"  
The children looked at each other and grinned wider.  
"You got tricked-" one said.  
"-And we get the treat." The other finished; tongue running over needle sharp teeth.  
A sudden chill ran through the officer's body at the sinister tone the child used. He struggled to sit up only to be pushed back to the cold metal floor by four small arms possessed of inhuman strength. The two children leaned down to lick either side of Hanif's neck, tracing with their tongues the arteries where his quickened heart was causing the blood to pulse and throb against the skin.   
His head convulsed back as twin flashes of pain exploded in his brain.  
The short-lived scream echoed along the deserted corridors as Officer Hanif joined the list of 'Missing'. 

End

* * *

"True Magic is done with the mind and the spirit. Chants and potions are just a way to focus the magic, but they will not work without the magic of your spirit. Every wizard that you may encounter has a vast imagination, and a mind that can fly free. You still have that great gift. When you go home, you can use your imagination to see this world and us. Your mind is free from all bounds. You can travel anywhere, meet anyone and do anything, all within your mind. That is the first gateway to magic." - Nala, Wizard of_ T'Tenneb_. 

* * *

Any comments to hilaryweston@hotmail.com 

Ranger Hilary. 


End file.
